The Champion of the Outer Reaches
by Smaugtheterrible
Summary: Taylor Hebert gets an offer from three gods, it changes her life, and scars her soul forever.
1. Chapter 1

_Taylor L. Hebert : Champion of the outer reaches_

Taylor Hebert screamed as she pounded against her locker door, the smell from the rotting sanitary pads clawed at her nose, her fingers becoming raw and bloody as they scraped at the unyielding metal door, her vision slowly going dark, her arms going week as her vision slowly went dark, her hear pounding out of her chest.

The last thing she heard right before she passed out was the piercing laughter of Sophia, Emma, and Madison.

An eternity passed in a matter of moments.

Taylor opened her eyes in a massive expanse of dark emptiness. Floating in front of her were three gargantuan figures.

The first was a gargantuan, tentacle riddled cross between a goat and ball of dark slime, it tentacles twisting and blindly exploring through the void, here and there a fanged, slime dripping mouth would somehow writhe into existence on one of the dark skinned tentacles, gnashing and grinning, its cloven legs scraping at the infante nothing beats it.

The second figure was the a sloth like toad, or was it a toad like sloth? Its ponderous form convert with a rotten yellow-green imitation fur. Its sleepy lids were half lowered over piss yellow eyes. A long, slug like lounge twined from its bulbous mouth, its bulk was supported by thousands of webbed, vestigial feet.

The third figure was a massive anthropoid of vaguely human portions, but who's octopoid face was a mass of sinuous, rubbery tentacles, its body, a rotting, scaly, greenish black color, with prodigious claws on its hands and feet. It had a pair of prodigiously wide bat wings. But the most unsettling part of the creature was its eyes, for it had the universes contained within a pair of globular sphere of the deepest black, spotted with white stars.

Taylor looked at these creatures and screamed as her mind shattered over and over, as time passed, her sanity was slowly regained, bit by bit, until once again, she was rational again.

Or perhaps she merely made her way through the rough seas of insanity and made her way to calm waters on the other side.

The three beings waited patiently in the timeless void as the teenage girl gathered herself together and finally faced the three sanity blasting visages in front of her.

The first creature spoke, its voice warm and caring, and vaguely feminine, its tone conveying almost motherly caring, its tentacles somehow giving the impression of turning around to face Taylor

"Hello little one, I am Shub-Niggurath, the mother of a thousand young."

The next creature spoke, its voice a constant yawning growl of sloth, exhaustion, and slow, inevitable corruption.

"I am Tsathoggua, the sleeper of N'kai."

The final creature spoke, well, it didn't actually _speak_. It screeched and growled a series of monosyllables that Taylor somehow heard in the back of her mind as English.

"I am Cthulhu, the Sleeper of R'lyeh."

The first creature, Shub-Niggurath, spoke again, its thousand mouths twisting, dribbling an acidic slime, its voice still warm and caring.

"We have taken the opportunity to bring you here, and make you an offer."

The sloth-toad Tsasthoggua spoke next, its ponderous maw opening in a yawn.

"An offer of power so that you might achieve your dream."

The octopoid figure of Cthulhu spoke, his tentacles writhing around a circular maw of razor sharp triangles of teeth.

"An offer of revenge, so you might be fulfilled."

Then the tree spoke as one, their voices blending into a buzzing, unholy chorus.

" **We wish you to be a champion to one of us, to take our names out into the world, and make them known again."**

Taylor looked at the three beings in confusion.

"You… You want _me,_ to _champion_ you?"

Shub-Niggurath spoke again, its warm voice caressing Taylor like a gentle embrace.

"We want you to chose _one_ of us to champion. Whoever among us you choose will grant you powers in your role as their avatar."

Taylor just looked at the gargantuan mound of dark fleshy tentacles and and fanged mouthes.

She stared for a few brief moments in utter befuddlement before she finally shook herself out of her confusion, her eyes taking on a slightly calculating glint.

"And what happens if I say no?"

"Then we send you right back to the locker, and you will be left there, in the filth, for hours."

Taylor paused as she realized what she would be consigning herself to if she refused the offer. Then something occurred to her.

"What powers would I get from you If I decided to pick you?"

Shub-Niggurath seemed to ponder the question for a moment.

"You would become what you call a brute, no matter who you chose to one degree or another, for me, I estimate a Brute 6 or 7. You would also have a breaker form where your strength would be bumped up, and you would look a lot like me. In your regular human form you would also be able to extrude and control tentacles much like me"

Tsasthoggua sighed in irritation before he spoke, his voice like a smothering blanket.

"If you chose me you would become a master of flesh in all its forms. You could turn your own body into a veritable fortress of flesh and bone, able to shrug of mortal wounds with ease, your will be able to reduce your tormentors to mewling, squirming piles of flesh, leaving them with just enough of their minds to realize the folly of opposing you. "

Cthulhu finally spoke, his serrated maw twisting and contouring as the tentacles around its mouth writhed, its words scratching at the back of Taylor's mind.

"I grant you nothing as concrete as the other two will." The great green anthropoid octopus drifted closer, the universes in its eyes drilling into Taylor as it continued its pseudo speak.

"I can feel the suffering that you have endured child, the loss, the grief, the loneliness, the betrayal, the solitude, the utter despair of hopelessness."

Taylor swallowed as the gargantuan being leaned down to come eye to eye with her.

"I can give you piece of mind, I can give you acceptance, and in the same breath, I can give you the ability to twist the minds of humanity at your whim. You will be able to drive the weak willed mad with nought but a look, you be able to torment the strong through their very dreams. Not only that, but in time you would be able to take on my form, to both spread my name and to finalize your revenge."

She stared as Cthulhu drifted back in line with the other two creatures who seemed rather disgruntled by the beings actions.

Shub-Niggurath, shifted, her tentacles writhing agitatedly before turning back in Taylors direction and speaking.

"So, Taylor Hebert, who shall you champion?"

Taylor hung, motionless in the empty void as she considered her options, debating the pros and cons of each offer, and even wondering if she should just stay in the locker. But in the end she made her choice.

"I wish to champion-"

 _End of chapter 1_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Sophia stared at the locker door with a dawning sense of horrified curiosity. Her sixth sense screaming at her to run away from the innocuous locker. Until just a second ago, Hebert had been screaming and kicking at the door, but then she had suddenly quieted, and now, her every instinct was screaming at her to run, to run and to hide.

Emma and Madison both didn't seemed to notice the sense of overwhelming danger from the locker, they were talking and laughing, their voices suddenly loud and strident in her ears. The black teen slowly backed away from the locker door. Emma and Madison turned to look at her, their faces turning to confusion, but then to panic as the locker door screamed, as it was rattled, and then kicked off its hinges, embedding into the far wall.

And out stepped a Taylor Hebert, still mussed, dirty, and stained. But her eyes, her eyes were dominated by what looked like a black pupil, studded with stars.

Sophia shuddered, her mind quaking as the thing that Taylor Hebert had become _looked_ at her, peering deep into her her mind and soul, taking stock, and finding the core of Sophia's being amusing.

The Taylor-thing smiled, Sophia suppressed a shriek. The things teeth were sharp, and serrated, as though someone had shoved the mouth of a shark where where regular teeth should have been.

As Sophia began to back away, she blinked as a droplet of nervous sweat fell into her eye. The black teen started as she looked back towards the Taylor-things mouth, where just a second ago had been terrifying teeth, meant for the ripping of flesh and the cracking of bone were a set of perfectly normal, perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth.

Emma and Madison were beginning to realize something was very wrong and had begun to screech and cry their complaints and questions, but Sophia just ignored them.

Sophia Hess's view on life boiled down to two categories. Predator, and prey, but the thing in front of her was so beyond both of those, that her brain actually ached trying to consider what had become of the other girl.

Because whatever she was, she sure as hell wasn't weak prey anymore.

THE Taylor-thing cocked its head, its pseudo human behavior making Sophia cringe. And then it spoke, its voice was Hebert's voice, but underneath it, there was _something._ A unholy buzzing, gargling chorus, the sound much like drowning and forgiveness.

In other words, lots of screaming that slowly grows quieter, and then silence.

"Whats _wrong_ Sophia? You don't look like your happy to see me?"

Sophia restrained a massive twitch as she realized that she had almost been hypnotized by the other girls voice.

"What the fuck _are_ you Hebert?"

The Taylor-thing smiled again, and Sophia felt her mind fracture, and as she turned to run, a soft, silky whisper eased its way into her mind.

" _Why, little_ ** _predator_** _, I am Cthulhu F'htagn. And soon dear_ ** _predator,_** _all shall know the meaning of my name._ "

Sophia screamed as she ran burst out the doors of Winslow high school and away from the nightmare that had been Taylor.

 _Scene Break_

Emma stared in confusion as Sophia ran away screaming from Taylor of all people. The locker door coming undone by itself was scary, sure, but what the hell had warranted that?

All Hebert had done was ask if Sophia was happy to see her which was weird, sure, but definitely didn't warrant that. Emma turned back to Taylor, the other girl stood there, completely at ease, her clothing stained and ripped, but she was still utterly calm, with no emotion except a slight curiosity.

Emma shivered. Maybe Sofia had the right idea.

Emma grabbed Madison and quickly hustled away, leaving Taylor behind her, still as calm as she could be. Emma was about to turn the corner, when she felt a hand brush the back of her neck, and heard a whispering voice call her name. She jumped around, but the hallway was clear, with only Hebert, still standing next to her locker, her head cocked in Emma's direction. Their eyes seemed to meet, and Emma shivered again, fingers of ice seemingly caressing her spine.

She calmly, still dragging the protesting Madison behind her, walked around the corner, and then broke into a run.

 _Scene Break_

Taylor smiled, a genuinely happy smile as she watched the trio flee. All it had taken was a few well placed mental suggestions and illusions and they had crumpled like tinfoil.

Whistling, she looked at her locker, wondering if she could salvage any of its contents, shrugged, closed it, and left. Whistling as she left Winslow, going for home.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she now had the power to be a hero, and to take her revenge, and no one would ever be able to prove it was her.

Taylor's smile became predatory briefly as she considered that, before becoming cotemplative.

What should her hero name be? It had to be something that would incorporate her new benefactors name.

Wait… That would work. The phrase she had told Sophia was merely one of his titles, but, it could work as a cape name in a pinch.

 _Cthulhu F'htagn._

Yeah, she liked that.

Cthulhu the Dreamer.

Taylors bright laughter somehow chilled those who heard it, despite the bright, warm, sunny day.

 _Scene Break_

Armsmaster stared at the report in front of him, uncomprehending. He looked up at Miss Milita who had handed him the report.

"Is this real?"

The middle eastern woman nodded, the red, white, and blue bandanna obscuring her frown.

"It is, as of 10 am this morning, Shadow Stalker has gone a-wol. She left Winslow, apparently screaming in terror, and has not been seen since, she has not returned to her house or any other of her frequent hideouts that we know of."

Armsmaster looked at the report again, or more specifically one of the attached security camera stills. It showed Sophia, sprinting full out, her face contorted in a silent and constant scream of absolute terror.

"What the hell could make Sophia do _this_?" He mused in morbid fascination.

Miss Milita just shrugged.

Whatever it was, she didn't want to meet it.

There was something about the how absolute afraid Shadow Stalker was in those security stills that unsettled her

 _End of chapter 2_


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Taylor examined her finished 'borrowed' costume critically. It consisted of dark green motorcycle leathers and black boots. A small can of party spray that would color her hair green for a few hours and a phantom of the opera-esque mask, but instead of the classical half mask Taylor had gotten a full face greenish blue mask.

She did have her eyes set on a gorgeous octopus mask, but the practicality of paper-mâché in combat was dubious at best, and downright dangerous at worst.

Thinking seriously, she probably could get an actually tactically sound version of the mask, but it would have to be tinker tech and that would cost, especially compared with the basically free costume before her. The only part of the costume she had actually payed for was the hair spray.

Shrugging to herself she began shrugging on her costume, and then spraying her hair with the cheap dye.

She looked at herself in the mirror, nodded satisfied, and then _flexed._

She giggled as she looked at her compete costume, the sound coming out flat, buzzing, and wet.

 _Scene Break_

Lisa, otherwise known as Tattletale hissed for quiet as as she sat astride one of Bitchs' dogs, they were jumping from rooftop to rooftop, having just ditched Oni Lee when her power _screamed_ at her to stop, and to run away from whatever was in the alley below. At her panicked command, the rest of her team stopped, paws scratching against the roof of the building. Tattletale slide off the dog she was riding to land in a crouch on the top of the roof. She edged carefully towards the edge, and peeked over, and was watched as Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu ordered his men to shoot first and ask questions later, she was a little irritated that the large asian man called them 'children', and apparently someone else was too. Tattletale suppressed her gag reflex as a tentacled, vaguely human _thing_ stepped forward.

A naked, potbellied figure of green and black not flesh the color of rot and decay, it stepped forward on large, floppy feet. Lisa started as she realized its feet ended in three long tentacles. A pair of batwings snapped open on its back, sending out small gusts of wind that stirred up the dust around it. Its, face dominated by tentacles surrounding a circular maw of shark like teeth, its fingers were winding tentacles that twisted and wrapped around each other in twisted coils of wet flesh.

Its eyes were the worst part however, black inky pools studded with miniature universes In a blinding, twinkling, sparks that seemed draw any two made eye contact.

Its voice came forth, wet, and gravel filled.

"Little lizard, little lizard, you are threatening to kill children in _my_ territory? Little lizard, you seem to think that you are invincible, I shall do you the service of showing you just how weak you truly are…"

The thing stepped forward, its tentacles slapping wetly against the ground, it thrust out a single hand, its finger stalks flopping bonelessly, and then Tattletales power went wild.

It screamed into Tattletales mind in terror and incomprehension, messages of error and confusion blazed their way across her mind as Tattletale began to seize.

Below her in the alleyway, Lung froze, and stood unmoving as the figure stepped closer, its tentacles flopping wetly.

The creature eventually placed one hand on Lungs head, and as its long, tentacle like fingers, slid into Lung's nose and eyes, it hissed, low and gargling.

"Little lizard, little lizard, let us see what you are afraid of, hmmm?"

Lung screamed, and up on the roof, Tattletale screamed with her, their mind breaking together, one being broken by an outside force, and the other being broken in an attempt to understand something beyond the realm of human possibility.

The creature finally let Lung collapse, and turned to the rest of the ABB goons who were staring in utter terror at the octopoid. It regarded the regular humans with its inky, diamond, and universe studded eyes.

"Little gangsters, little, _weak_ gangsters, if I ever catch you in my territory again, what I did to Lung will be noting but a prelude to what I will do to all of you. Now leave, and make sure you tell people that Cthulhu is here to stay."

The ABB gangsters turned and ran, and the thing moved its to gaze up towards the roof where the still twitching Tattletale and the rest of the Undersiders, and then it called out, in its wet, gravel crushing voice.

"Little thieves, little thieves, shall you come down to meet me, or shall Cthulhu come come up too see you?"

No one responded, the only sounds were the scrabbles of paws and mutterings, the so called Cthulhu seemed to melt away into the shadow.

And then reappeared on the rooftop in bubbles of liquid flesh that formed back into the bat-winged, tentacle faced creature. It stepped forward, its circular maw of shark teeth opening in a curios hiss.

"Little thieves, little thieves, why do you run?"

 _Scene Break_

Taylor watched as the Undersiders panicked, Grue covering her in darkness as they mounted the mutant dogs and ran.

She snickered as they ran, and as they became dots on the horizon, and let her disguise melt away. Lung for all his power had no defense against a few well place illusions, and Tattletale was obviously a thinker so she had gotten a full blast of her new, mind warping powers.

From what she understood, the more simple, and more unbalanced the mind, the easier it became to break it. And luckily for her, just about every Parahuman mind became warped by its trigger, and the use of the power itself.

The roar of a motorcycle caused her to look down, a blue and white armored figure on a monstrous looking motor bike had arrived on the scene.

 _'_ _Armsmaster huh? Interesting…"_

 _Scene Break_

Armsmaster started and pulled his halberd as a woman in green motorcycle leathers and mask, with green hair seemed to melt out of the shadows. The woman merely grinned at the sharp instrument that was crackling with fat sparks of electricity, a few inches from her throat.

"Is that your halberd, or are you just happy to see me?"

Armsmaster grunted, a little put out by her flirtatious response.

"Hero or Villian?"

The other cape shrugged.

"More of a rogue than anything else, but I heard Lung discussing the slaying of children, and that is something that I can absolutely not countenance."

The other cape motioned behind her.

"The groaning guy in the domino mask back there is him. Should be fine in a week or two, but for now he's absolutely harmless."

Armsmaster shouldered his halberd and looked over the capes shoulder, and lo and behold, there was Lung, drooling and unconscious. The hero looked cautiously at the other cape.

"Have you ever thought of joining Protectorate or the Wards?"

The female cape shrugged her green leather clad shoulders.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it, however a friend of mine hashed some rather unfortunate encounters with one of your wards."

Armsmaster sighed internally.

"Shadowstalker I assume?"

She nodded.

"If she was no longer a factor, I would be far more amenable to joining the wards, if you get my meaning."

Armsmaster nodded, wondering if he could leverage Shadowstalkers recent disappearance in order to get a cape powerful enough to take down Lung.

"You are aware that Shadowstalker had disappeared?"

She nodded.

"I am. That doesn't meant that if she's found she wouldn't be restated into the wards as soon as possible. I want a guarantee that there will be a comprehensive investigation of Shadowstalker and her conduct both as a Ward, and as a student of Winslow."

Armsmaster nodded, but pushed, not wanting to let a powerful cape get away.

"I swear. How about you come by next week, and we can give you the a progress report?"

The other cape laughed again, white teeth shining against dark green leather.

"Very well. But be gentle, it'll be my first time at PRT headquarters. And be nice to Taylor. She's the friend who gave me the heads up."

The figure dissolved, leaving a small white card, with reflective green lettering written across it.

 _'_ _compliments of Cthulhu'_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Armsmaster stared at the wild eyed, feral figure of Sophia Hess, who screamed and growled, occasionally going misty and insubstantial before throwing herself at the wall with electrified wires running through it. The black teen snarled whenever she tried to phase through her cell, and was denied.

Dragon's voice came over the speakers, soft and sorrowful.

"What do you want to do Collin?"

Armsmaster sighed. He hated doing this, the wards were his responsibility and he had failed Shadowstalker. And now he had to go see if she had failed him.

"Prep her for the Birdcage."

There was a moment of hesitation in Dragons voice before it came over the intercom again.

"Very well."

And with that, Armsmaster turned around, and left, heading towards Winslow, and already thinking of how to tackle Taylor Hebert, and figure out her connection to the new cape who had taken down Lung, and maybe had dealt with Shadowstalker as well.

 _Scene Break_

Taylor couldn't help smiling to herself. Over the past few days she had stopped a half dozen muggings in full costume, and out of it, her grades had already risen, directly proportionate to the amount of bullying she received, and without Sophia, both Emma and Madison were terrified of her. She hadn't had to so much raise her voice and any of the usual suspects had scurried away, or been dragged away by the nervous Madison and Emma.

Taylor had noticed something odd though, she had caught Emma staring at her occasionally with the strangest expression on her face, on of regret and fear, but also on of love and respect. It was pretty weird whatever it was.

Taylor smiled to herself as she saw the PRT vans pull out in front of Winslow and behind it, Armsmaster on his motorcycle. She waited a few minutes and then over the intercom.

' _Taylor Heber, Taylor Hebert, please come down to the principles office.'_

Taylor gathered up her things and without a word, walked out the door, ignoring Madison's nervous look, and missing Emmas agonized glance completely.

 _Scene Break_

Armsmaster looked up from his table as Taylor Hebert entered. The brown, mousey haired girl smiled happily at him. Armsmaster noted idly that her glasses were not prescription, and that her facial structure was a 90% match to that of Cthulhu. The girl grinned as she sat down.

"I assume you are here on the recommendation of a mutual friend?"

Armsmaster nodded. A confirmation of identity could wait until they were at the PRT headquarters,

"I am."

The girls smile was blindingly brilliant, here teeth seemed to shift into triangles of razor sharp ivory for the briefest second.

"Wonderful~" She trilled. "So, do you want to this here?"

Armsmaster shook his head.

"Are you willing to join me at the PRT building?"

Taylor nodded.

"I will meet you there, I just need a little time to collect my things, I will meet you there, dressed up, and ready."

Armsmaster nodded, and left, he paused at the door, and turned back to Taylor. Or rather where Taylor was.

The seat where Taylor had been sitting was empty. As though no one had ever been there.

 _Scene Break_

Ann Winters, a secretary for the PRT looked up from her hobby of Tarot cards as an alert on her screen flashed. She shrugged as it suddenly stopped and turned back to her cards. Her tarot card readings were something that she had picked up from her grandmother, apparently their families blood gave the ability to 'see beyond'.

Winters shivered as the warning light for someone apronching the PRT building and fitting the criteria for a hostile Cape popped on her screen again before flickering out.

A figure in green motorcycle leathers, with a bluish green mask and hair walked calmly into the PRT building and up to the recaption desk. The woman smiled at the receptionist, her teeth glinting in the stark light of the noonday sun.

"Cthulhu, here to see Armsmaster."

The secretary nodded, a little disconcerted that she hadn't noticed the cape, almost like something… had, _stopped_ her from noticing.

Ann nodded dumbly.

"Miss Milita will be down shortly to escort you."

The sickly green clad cape nodded and sat in a nearby chair. Winters stared at the cape for a few moments. The green masked cape just nodded at the secretary cheerfully, her green gloved hands tapping out a simple beat.

 _Tut-ta-tuh-tah_

It slowly grew louder and louder in Winter's ears.

 _Tut-ta-tuh-tah tut-ta-tuh-tah_

The simple four beat pattern seemed to grow louder and louder, until it became the drum beat to an invading army, the heartbeat of a great beast, the first rocks in a city destroying avalanche.

The last notes of a funeral march.

The drumming stopped.

And in the deafening silence a cold hand was placed on Ann Winter's shoulder

Winter shrieked, she whirled to look at concerned face of Miss Militia.

"Are you alright?" The superhero asked worriedly. The secretary just nodded jerkily. Miss Militia stared at Winter for a few moments before shrugging and going over to Cthulhu.

And as the two capes conversed briefly before walking in the direction of the elevators, Ann looked down at her Tarot cards, each one had been flipped onto its back, and somehow, painted, each one a part of a greater collage, all together showing the visage of a great octopoid beast, perched on a rock in the middle of a crashing sea, the ink and card stock somehow moving in nauseating motions that defied logic.

Ann Winters, officer of the PRT calmly swept her Tarot cards off her desk and into a trashcan before lighting the contents on fire.

 _Scene Break_

Emily Piggot looked up from her conversation with Armsmaster as Miss Militia opened the door and a teenage girl in motorcycle leathers stepped through the door, her boots clopping audibly even on her offices carpet.

The teenage cape sat down, and with a flash of teeth asked,

"So shall we get down to business Director?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Emily Piggot stared at the teen lounging in the chair opposite, her sea foam eyes dancing with a manic light over a smile that seemed just a touch to wide to be entirely natural.

"So, are we going to get down to business director?

Piggot gazed at the teen, taking in her features, and taking stock of the green motorcycle leathers she wore, before pasting on an insincere smile and speaking.

"You are the Cape known as Cthulhu?"

An incline of a blue and green haired head prompted the director to continue speaking through her clenched teeth, still fixed into an unwavering plastic smile.

"I have to ask on behalf of the PRT and the Protectorate, what _exactly_ did you do to Lung? He still hasn't woken up from the coma you put him in."

Cthulhu shrugged slim, leather clad shoulders.

"My powers rely greatly on the mind of the subject. Would you like a harmless demonstration?"

Against her better judgement, the director nodded, and then started.

Why the _hell_ had she just given a Parahuman free rein to use their powers on her? She would never in a million years agree to that! She suppressed the grimace that threatened to make its way onto her face and casually slid one hand down as though to straighten her skirt, but was really sliding in towards the gun strapped in a quick draw holster at the underside of her desk and the panic button that would get any other duty protectorate members to surround the room.

But what sent shivers down the directors spine was the fact that during this, Armsmaster and Miss Militia both hadn't reacted, as in they hadn't reacted at all, they still had expressions of absolute boredom.

Cthulhu noticed Piggot's nervous look at the other heroes in the room, Her smile widened to just beyond human proportions as the green leather clad hero leaned forward, closer to the only non-parahuman in the room.

"Oh, Im afraid that they don't even know that Ive entered the room, They still think that they're waiting for me to show up. I'd imagine that they are both bored to tears at this point."

Cthulhu paused, contemplatively.

"I'm also rather impressed you even noticed my tweak in your subconscious that caused you to say yes to my testing my powers on you. You must have a very firm grasp on you own character."

Piggot felt a single bead of sweat roll down the back of her neck, coming to rest at where the collar of her suit jacket met her thick neck.

"And why, are you doing this? It seems like a lot of work, coming in to PRT headquarters, and then exerting your, _powers_ , on all of us, what do you actually want?"

The enigmatic cape shrugged lazily, her tight clothing drawing significant attention to her hips and bust.

"Im sure Armsmaster already informed you that of my real identity, no?"

Piggot nodded. Armsmaster had told her that the new cape was most likely Taylor Hebert as soon as he had gotten back from Winslow.

"Well, you may or may not no this, but my trigger event was caused by Shadow Stalker in her civilian identity and a few of her friends were the cause of my trigger. Of course my trigger event itself only occurred after almost two years of torment and systematic attacks upon my person."

Piggot felt another bead of sweat roll down her throat, coming to rest at her collar bone. This was _not_ good. She was sitting across from a hostile Master powerful enough to directly screw with peoples heads, create illusion and cause people act in certain ways, wait a second, newly triggered Master cape, a mentally broken Shadow Stalker….

"Did you cause Shadow Stalker's breakdown?"

Cthulhu replied, her voice satisfied.

"I did. That was the first shot in the opening salvo of my war on the Brockton Bay PRT, Protectorate and even its Wards. Every on of them, from a simple PRT trooper, to Protectorate capes, and even your child soldiers will be chaff before my oncoming blade."

Piggot was dumbfounded, a cape, no matter how powerful, didn't just declare war on the institution that was the PRT. It was just asking for a Triumvirate tier smackdown.

"But _why?_ Why do all this? Why come here, why declare you intent for war?"

Cthulhu laughed, a sound full of spite, malice, and hate.

"Why Am I declaring war? Because your ward tormented me for almost two years, and eventually almost murdered me. And as to why I came here, well my dear Director, I was never really here."

Then the cape dissolved like a patch of mist in the early morning sun.

Armsmaster and Miss Militia suddenly looked around in shock, Militia turned to Piggot with an expression of confusion on her face.

"Weren't we waiting for Cthulhu?"

Piggot sighed. What an absolute cluster f# %&.

 _Scene Break_

Taylor whistled an idle tune as she squirreled away her things in a closet. Her declaration of war had been made, her seeds planted.

Her father given a subtle mental suggestion to go work on networking new shipping routes in New York and Boston.

And now, the house was left all to herself, she had withdrawn from school, and her days and nights were filled with nothing but time for hunting down Emma and Madison.

The Protectorate had been given their warnings, they might not have been directly responsible, or even had known about what had been happening to her, but from what Taylor had managed to discover about the probation Sophia had been under, they should have known.

But now her message had been delivered, and anyone who was still willing to serve the institutions of the PRT could be dealt with, without mercy, and without hesitation.

Taylor turned to her bed and sighed. The one part of her power that she regretted was her inability to sleep. She hadn't really noticed a need to sleep after the first few days, but now, thinking deeply, she was missing something, she wasn't sure what, but it felt like a hole had been bored not her chest.

Taylor couldn't help but wonder idly, if she was missing anything else…


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

 ** _Emergency Announcement - all PRT troopers, all Protectorate members, all Ward members, emergency announcement_**

 _Emergency announcement- as of XXX_

The Parahuman known as Cthulhu has officially ' _declared war_ ' on the PRT and its related institutions. The cape known as Cthulhu has shown Master 9 level powers, all effort is to be made to flee on sight, no confrontation outside of spelled squads which will be designed to tackle this opponent will be tolerated.

No mention of this will be tolerated to the press, or to any social media. The Brockton Bay NE PRT is brining in an expert negotiator in order to open lines of communication to see wether or not a relationship is salvageable.

If not, strike teams from elite New York Protectorate groups will be dispatched.

 _Director of PRT NE- Emily Piggot_

 _Scene Break_

Aegis looked at the dossier on the table in front of him.

Then he looked at the other Wards at briefing table, each one looked back at him, terrified, and a little ashamed.

The folder in front of him detailed the systematic abuse and campaign of torture and harassment that had been conducted by Shadowstalker. The now insane, and Bird-cage bound teen had apparently been engaged in a systematic pattern of abuse of Cthulhu in both of their civilian identities for almost two years, it had even led up to Cthulhu's trigger event.

And now, this bullied girl had declared a literal war on the PRT and its related offices.

Piggot had sat down each ward individually and leveled with them.

They had no idea the level of threat they were facing. They only knew that Cthulhu was able to screw with your mind, but not to what degree.

Cthulhu had obvious animosity towards the PRT and was more then willing to violate the unwritten rules, to hurt, maim, and maybe even kill.

As he read further through the file, he got to why _exactly_ Sophia was now Birdcage bound and gagged. The photographs of the scene where she had been found…. Were graphic. Very graphic.

She had been found, the only person alive, in the suburban home of a family of five.

Shadow Stalker had also been the only person still alive in the house, her guilt had been confirmed by video and forensic evidence. Aegis almost wondered where the video was, until he got to the part where the video would be classified due to its, _extreme_ nature.

Aegis shuddered.

At the head of the table, Piggot sighed, as she watched her wards self destruct mentally.

She stood up, pushing back her office chair as she came to her feet. She clapped her hands to get the wards attention and spoke crisply.

"I do not intend to force any of the Wards to remain in Brockton Bay. If any of you wish a transfer, or to even retire form the wars, permission will be granted. This is a design that I feel you must make on your own, please take the time to consider this seriously."

And with that, Piggot left, leaving the Wards in turmoil, their thoughts muddied.

 _Scene Break_

Taylor watched with interest as she her hand move and shape a little, _gift_ of sorts for Madison and Emma. She was going to send this particular little doodad, and a few other things, and if they managed to survive, then well, they deserved to live.

Taylor didn't hold out much hope for them surviving though.

Besides, even if they did, it wasn't like she could keep a grudge, she was a _hero_ , she was supposed to be _better_.

Which meant that even if she wanted to ruin, and kill, and maim, she had to let it go.

Taylor noticed that her hands had stopped moving, so she looked at the item they had been creating.

Its non-euclidean angles and rotten flesh coloring were particularly endearing…

Taylor placed the unnervingly shaped statuette into a white box, and tied it with a green and white bow, with a simple tag of ' _enjoy!'_

Taylor whistled as she walked outside, and down to the corner, where the local mailbox sat.

 _Scene Break_

Brian Laborn, was feeling remarkably, distressed, there was no other word for it.

Ever since that night, when they had met that _thing._ Lisa had been acting weirdly, and by weird, Brian meant absolutely, lip twiddling, streaking in a snow storm, clown-costume wearing, random murder committing **insane**.

Lisa had gone from being a relatively calm, and collected person that he was glad to hav on his team, to a erratic, crazed, obsessive, and overall unreliable person who was just as likely to burst out laughing because of the color of your socks, as to begin spouting out your deepest, darkest secrets, and reducing her enemies to a whining, crying, wreck.

That sort of person, when you are nominally in charge of a gang of capes who specialize in quick and clean robberies, where no one gets hurt, becomes a very large liability.

Brian, also known as Grue shared a nervous look with Rachel who was clutching one of her dogs as manic laughter emanated from Tattletales room, along with the sounds of metal on flesh, and smell of burning meat.

 _Scene Break_

Emma looked up from her textbook as the front door rang, curious as to who could be there and 6 at night, she jogged over to the door, and made sure to see who it was before she opened the door. But no one was there. She opened the door to look around and almost stumbled over the white box that was on the front step. Tied with a pretty green bow, it was about a foot and a half in diameter.

Emma just shrugged and picked up the box, brining it inside.

She placed it on the kitchen table, and went back to studying, however, as Emma buckled down, she missed a green stone tendril oozing its way outside of the box, and quietly untying the ribbon, as what looked like a miniature green octopus, with _really_ big teeth inched its way out of the box and towards Emma.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Cthulhu watched avidly as Emergency services rushed in and out of Emma's house as she munched on popcorn.

 _'where did I get popcorn?'_ She idly wondered, before dismissing it as a non-issue.

She waited for just over thirty minutes before Armsmasters motorcycle rolled before wiping greasy, buttery fingers off on her motorcycle leathers and standing up, cracking her back in one long, languorous motion.

 _'_ _Well. Time to go to work. One traumatized hero coming up.'_

 _Scene Break_

Armsmaster stepped over the threshold to the Barnes household and then stopped as the world blended and hd found himself standing on a floating rock in the middle of a clear blue sky.

The hero immediately radioed in, attempting to reach, well, _anyone._ But he was only greeted by silence and static in the air. And then giggles followed by outright laughter as the villainous cape known as Cthulhu melted into existence a few short feet away, laughing crazily as… Were those _tentacles?!_

Yes. Yes they were.

Cthulhu has _tentacles_ instead of hair, wet, slime, jade colored tentacles that twisted and curled around themselves, occasionally caressing the sides of the female capes face in a disgusting mockery of an affectionate gesture.

The teenage cape grinned widely at Armsmaster, waved, and then disappeared as the rock mutated, and hands of stone began gripping his legs, tearing at his armor, and then at the flesh underneath.

And as the stone hands began dragging him down, Colin could swear he heard that giggling again.

 _Scene Break_

Miss Milita was sitting at the Console, pulling a shift before one of her numerous nighttime patrols.

It was one of the many advantages, and disadvantages of being a Noctus cape, without the need to sleep you could definitely get a lot done, but after a while, it just became _boring_.

However, having been a Noctus cape for the majority of her life, the _one_ thing she had never expected to happen, was for her to _yawn_.

Militia stopped in shock and yawned again, exhaustion crashing down on her like a wave, and then her eyes widened in shock as the gravity of the situation hit her, someone was making a Noctis cape fall asleep in the middle of the Rig!

She lunged for the emergency M/S lockdown, as the full wait weight of the foreign feeling hit her, fingers grazing the button, Militia staggered as the exhaustion crashed down again, and with one final exertion of effort she slapped the button before sleep claimed her.

 _Scene Break_

Principle Linda(?) Blackwell woke with a start, breathing heavily, the details of the nightmare that had so rudely woken her already fleeing from her foggy mind.

She swung bare feet from out beneath bed covers and groaned as joints ached and muscles protested, knowing that she would get no more sleep this night Blackwell stood and made her way into her kitchen, her mind already going over the days trials.

She had a meeting with the school board to beg more funding, plus a sit-down with a half dozen of the major non-cape gang leaders from both the Empire and the ABB, in which she would _hopefully_ get at least a partial agreement from one or both the gangs to keep their crap of school grounds.

Blackwell grabbed a container of instant coffee from a cabinet and yawned as she started boiling some water, and then frowned as she considered the biggest thorn in her side.

Taylor Hebert, a small, nerdy, solidly pacifist girl who actually had reminded Blackwell a lot of herself at that age.

Well, until she triggered and from what the PRT had told her had declared a one teen war on the national institution that is.

Blackwell sighed as she took a sip of the piping hot coffee.

It wasn't like she didn't feel _sorry_ for the girl, but she was quite literally fighting a _war_ against the gangs in her school, she had to contend with less then a quarter of the funds she _needed_ let alone _wanted_ , and what absolutely _killed_ Blackwell was she had to keep teachers like Gladwell, who if Blackwell didn't know better the man was a Sex Offend-or. (And she knew better, after first arousing her suspicions she had used some of her own money to get some spy cameras set up in his room, which had proven him innocent, she had still had a long talk with the man over appropriate gestures.)

Blackwell sighed again as she thought over Taylor. She honestly wanted to help the girl, and she had wanted to transfer her, but she needed parental permission to begin the process and the stubborn girl never told her father about the bullying until it was too late. And no matter how much she wanted to punish her bullies, she couldn't.

Sophia Hess was a Ward, who's mere presence brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra revenue, while at the same time discouraging open gang activity because of the rumors of her presence.

Emma Barnes, the smug, manipulative little a-hole, had a rabid, litigious lawyer for a father who didn't hesitate to pull out the 'sou the pants of you' threat at even the _hint_ of trouble for his little girl, and quite frankly, the school couldn't afford for a lawsuit to even be brought to court let alone to its conclusion.

And last, and certainly least, Madison Clements had a Father who was a Deputy assistant to the mayor, and who's mother was an executive in Fortress Construction, both of whom weren't afraid to buy off any signs of trouble.

That blasted trio had caused way too much trouble then way were worth, but Blackwell had no way to get rid of them. Well, that wasn't strictly true, she could get rid of them in a heart beat, it just wouldn't be _legal._

Then the air in front of Blackwell burst into jade flames with a scream of burning ozone that sent Blackwell flying back ass over end, dropping her mug which shattered, spilling hot coffee all over as Taylor _freaking_ Hebert stepped out of the tear in space and frowned down at Blackwell.

"Huh, so your actually a decent person, if a little cold hearted… Wasn't expecting _that_ …"

The smile that grew across Taylor's face like rot across a corpse made Blackwell want to whimper.

"But I wouldn't care if you were a saint, cause good reasons or not, you still deserve this."

 _End_


End file.
